The Mandy Dynasty
by MarjorieAnnMurray
Summary: Welcome to Winter Gates, the magic realm of Queen Mandy. She rules benevolently enough, but when rebels threaten revolution, she must use black magic to stay in power. Problem is that the enemy is lifelong... And has quite a few dark figures of its own.
1. The Winter Gates

Chapter two warning: Slight Grim/Mandy

All the seats of The Royal Theatre of Winter Gates were taken. It was the premiere of court musician Nergal Junior's play "_Carriage of the Seven Stars_" and the entire court and aristocracy were gathered, ravished by the beautiful female singer sitting on a crescent moon swing; apparently hanging in the air. Nergal Junior's plays were known throughout the kingdom for their splendor, though the popularity of the writer himself was rather low. He was known to be quite the maniac.

The most important member of the audience was seated in Box 1, surrounded by the most trusted members of her court. Queen Mandy, dressed in a green silk gown rimmed with ermine, leaned over the banister for an even closer look, and swallowed a yawn. She was usually entertained by Nergal Junior's works, but tonight she only attended as it was a formal event where she was required to appear. She was so tired; she had spent the last year fighting a famine in her kingdom. Things were now better for her people, who were mostly farmers.

The orchestra and the singer concluded their performance to thundering applause. Mandy politely took part, and a moment later her very loyal adviser Grim was standing by her side. "Your Majesty, Your carriage has arrived." He said in his heavy Jamaican accent.

"Excellent," Mandy said. Grim waited until she had risen from her seat before leaving the box.

The grand staircase was full of aristocrats congratulating Nergal Junior and the actors. The queen however, made an effort not to even look in his direction. Two princesses in crespines opened the doors and bowed their heads as the queen exited.

Winter Gates' location is now forgotten, but in its time it was one of the most powerful of empires. It was a realm of mortals; though with strong connections and friendship with the Underworld, and it was always winter. This is how the Grim Reaper himself became the Queen's adviser. He was, at that time, satisfied with being subordinate to a human, as he held some power over the living in addition to his supremacy over the dead.

Queen Mandy was coroneted and inaugurated in the Dimhald Castle when she was three and had ruled proficiently ever since. Her feet not even dangling from the seat of the throne, and holding a globus cruciger larger than her head, she had helped the people through wars, diseases and famine. She was also gifted with witchcraft and at the age of five, Grim adorned her with the Silver Scythe, an honor received only three times by mortals the last thousand years.

The skeletal Grim, grandly dressed in a Spanish judge's attire, opened the door to the royal carriage and helped the little queen up the steps. He would teleport back to Dimhald, but Mandy preferred a classier way of travel. The coachman, a goblin with green bat wings, cracked the whip and the coach went off.

It was in the late November, and a heavy snowfall powdered the proud towers and battlements of Mandy's castle. The vast Dimhald Castle was partially carved right out of the mountain, with a moat full of black water surrounded by the guards' cottages. Mandy always enjoyed looking at these when she was little, and even though not as much anymore, she always caught herself stealing a look at the humble homes of her subjects.

Grim was waiting for Mandy in the courtyard. "Your Majesty…"

"It's Mandy, Grim," she said determinedly. "I think it's rude not to call someone by their names when you have known them all their lives."

"Sorry, Mandy." Grim sighed inside of himself. "And I apologize for bringing you this news now, when I know you'd rather be sleeping."

Mandy was instantly alerted. "What news?"

"The I.C.U.P is at it again. They have released a new batch of libelous flyers in town, but do not worry; they have been arrested."

Mandy's face turned cold. "Where are they?"

"Waiting in the dungeons," Grim answered as the entrance to the castle was opened by two servants. Grim lifted Mandy's olive velvet cape off her shoulders and tossed it over to one of the servants.

The hallway to the throne room was illuminated with torches, and on both sides the walls were adorned with large portraits of past queens. Mandy's had already been assigned a place.

Mandy's favorite members of the court were already seated. Most of them were reading or embroidering, but there was a terrible racket from the corner, where Mandy's best friend was sitting, clamping away on the virginal. Billy was the Queen's ward and not of royal blood at all, but was just as powerful as Mandy when it came to bossing people around.

"Hi, Mandy!" He exclaimed overjoyed at the sight of his friend. He sped over to her and was about to hug her, but reconsidered and instead blew his big, pink nose in Grim's cloak.

"Hey, I told you to stop that!" Grim said, very annoyed and tore the cloak out of the boy's hands. Billy laughed again. "This is my new music piece," he said clumsily and assumed his rough-handed tickling of the ivories.

Mandy sat down on her throne and Grim clapped his hands in order to clear the room. A corpulent demon, also with the Silver Scythe around his neck, handed Mandy the infamous flyer. It read: "Queen Mandy - _The biggest threat to our world. Support Lady Mindy for a kingdom run in style!" _The rest of the flyer was dominated by a caricature of Mandy – as very tiny, flat-chested and with her nose in the air. Mandy's grip tightened around the piece of paper and shriveled it with a furious glimmer in her eyes.

"Send in the prisoners," she growled.

Grim snapped his fingers, and a group of seven people appeared out of nothing. They shivered. Mandy noticed that the group all had painted pink nails, even the three grown men.

"So," Mandy said sternly. "You think you can betray me and get away with, do you?"

The biggest member of the group hiccupped in fear as he looked at the queen. She was far more terrifying than the leader had told them.

Mandy's face turned to an evil grin. "I'm gonna make an example of you. To the stocks," she said and pointed at the group.

The group begged for mercy as the guards pulled them away. The location of the stocks was right outside the castle, in the freezing snow. Prisoners were freed after eight hours – if Mandy remembered it. And with her busy days, who could blame her for occasionally forgetting?

-

"The I.C.U.P. Oh, those weaklings," Mandy mumbled. She was sitting by her makeup table in the bedchamber. Grim was brushing her hair, one of the hundreds of duties he had to keep his high position.

The militia group I.C.U.P or Imperial Crown Usurper Party had always been resisting Mandy and her governing method that ensured even the poorest of the people financial security and education. Ever since Mandy was chosen over Mindy to rule Winter Gates, that was. Mandy had no respect for the stupid and ignorant. The I.C.U.P, lead by the supercilious and elitist Lady Mindy, took Mandy's laws for being a drain on society. Mandy was amused at this at first, as it was a clashing manifesto for a bunch of mercenaries. Their policy made sense later, as Mindy proposed "riches where riches are due"- policy. Of course, nobody living in Mandy's free realm (it was Grim's idea to make Winter Gates a free country. Mandy wanted dictatorship at first) with great human rights would stand for this madness. So Mindy returned to her chateau on the west side of the kingdom. Mandy considered the I.C.U.P a big nuisance, but nothing more. That was one of her few mistakes.

Mandy sat down on her impressive four-poster bed, also carved out of stone. Grim was fluffing her favorite pillow. "Don't worry so much, Mandy," he said encouragingly. The little queen kicked off her slippers and put her head down. "I don't. No matter what _they_ do, _we_ are always five steps ahead.

Grim knew what she meant. "You're of course right. Good night now."

He blew out the light as he exited the queen's chamber, and Mandy fell asleep with a strange, relaxed look on her face.


	2. The Secret Weapon

"Captain Sperg!"

A voice thundered from upstairs, and the podgy captain Sperg, seated at the minions' table, tipped a glass of prune juice over the map he was reading.

He sped up the stairs, which was in complete darkness. Two guards, dressed in mint and pink, parted their spears and opened the archway doors. Sperg entered the room inside, which was a contrast to the gloomy minions' quarters. It was, in his opinion, a shrine to snooty taste gone wrong. The panel walls were painted dusty pink, with tapestries depicting unicorns and fairies, all with the vacuous expressions and lame candy colors. One of them

Lady Mindy sat in a ridiculous, flower-shaped armchair wearing pink, of course, and looked extremely self-satisfied. "I have great news, Captain Sperg." She snapped her manicured fingers.

Two female guards dragged a prisoner in; a boy half their age with pale skin, freckles and red hair. He was a mess; looking like he had just been crying.

"Your excellence," one of the guards said, "We snatched the little critter right outside the Winter Gates' city limit."

Mindy rose from her seat. "You look like one of Mandy's."

"That is true, Your Excellence," The guard smiled sadistically. "We happen to know that _this,"_ she kicked him in the shin, and he fell down with a yelp, "Is one of the Queen's most trusted officials; officer Pud'n C. Owhart."

"No, that's a lie!" Pud'n cried.

Mindy sat back down.

"Not long ago one of my sources whispered to me that the queen had a very special weapon in her possession, something that keeps all of her enemies at bay at once. Unfortunately for us, this source is now in a high-security prison cell, pending execution. We have evidence that suggests that you know about this weapon."

The red-haired tyrant pointed at Pud'n, who was shaking his head. "Guards!"

The guards tore off Pud'n's right sleeve and inconsiderately twisted his arm around. There was a tattoo on his underarm; a small black scythe inside the symbol of the Queen's power, an Ouroboros. All the Queen's trusted had this tattoo.

"I won't betray the queen!" Pud'n yelled with as much courage as he could muster. Mindy just sneered back.

"I know. I suppose Mandy's welfare, equal rights and charity makes you feel like being loyal," Mindy looked as if she had sucked a lemon and sounded like the spoiled brat she was. But it was soon replaced with her usual patronizing smirk. "That's why I have some leverage to make you feel otherwise. Sperg," she snapped her fingers, and Captain Sperg grabbed Pud'n in a merciless twist.

"Tell us! What is Mandy's weapon?"

Sperg started twisting until Pud'n could not stand it anymore. "There's a book!" He gasped through the pain. "She has a book!"

Sperg dropped him on the floor and pointed a spear at him. Mindy was so exited she could not stand having to keep up appearances. "What book?"

Pud'n was poked with the spear. "Oh, um, Mandy's Book of Hours!"

As soon as he had said it he wished he was dead. Mindy was not through questioning.

"Where do you keep it? Where!?"

Pud'n was poked again, this time a lot harder. "Under the bed, under the Queen's bed!"

Mindy giggled happily, like a child on Christmas Eve. "Thank you! Guards, place him back into custody."

She sat down and reached for her powder puff and hand mirror. Sperg waited until after the fighting Pud'n was pulled away before speaking. "So, attack at dawn, Your Excellence?"

"Hm, no," Mindy shook her head and added some lipstick. "That's just what Mandy wants, and her city is armed to the teeth with magic, guards and other yucky stuff. No, I have a plan that ensures that no one important breaks their nails." She closed the compact mirror.

"Just wait and see."

It was morning at Dimhald Castle and Mandy had just bathed. One chamber maid was tending the fireplace in the Queen's study, and another was dressing her in the strangest clothes she had ever seen.

"Grim, what is this nonsense?" she said annoyed as a white skirt stiffened with wide rings was lowered over her chemise.

Grim was as always in his black attire and carrying Mandy's salad, toast and scrambled eggs. "It's a farthingale, child. It was a gift from General Irwin."

The maid brought out the next item, the corset, and Mandy gasped as it was laced. Grim hid a smile. After being fully dressed in red and purple brocade, she sat down to eat her breakfast. She ate all the other meals in the dining salon with the court, but breakfast was usually consumed in peace in her private study.

"So, what's on today's plan, smart guy?" Mandy asked Grim as they strolled down the magnificent hallway.

"Granny Grim and Aunt Kali are at it again in the kitchen. They were both so upset by the flyer - incident they are trying to exceed each other with magic potions to protect you. If they don't calm down soon I'll have to fetch me mother, Jeebs forbid."

The kitchen was not much visited by Mandy, as she preferred knowing as little about Granny Grim's cuisine as possible. Her food was good, but her methods were uncertain.

The hunchbacked Granny Grim gasped as she saw Mandy, and shook her bony fist at the scullery maids. "Get otta her'! Da queen has arrived!" her Jamaican accent was so thick you could slice it. She wiped her hands on the yellow apron.

"Good mornin' yore Majesties," She said to Mandy, and then turned to Grim, who looked bothered. "Soh, finally I see you again. Is time yo helped me down her', yo aunt is going all nutty."

Granny Grim showed them a large pot on the fireplace. "Now, dis is me latest strange brew, I admit that though it _steenks _it is effective."

"What are its properties?" Mandy asked and adjusted her black French hood.

"Now, whatever ting falls into de potion freezes instantly. But not to worry, dey float and do not freeze to death, they can breathe and when taken out can be placed in custody."

Mandy was very pleased. "Excellent!"

"Now, dat is notting," another voice said. Grim's Aunt Kali came out from the saucery with a casserole. She had more gravy in her dreadlocks than in the utensil."It looks like cat's vomit to me! Is worse dan da Underworld jury who took my job!"

"They took your job?" Grim said. He had a feeling that sentence would have some importance in the future.

"You keep yo pie hole shut!" Granny snarled at Kali. "Yore from the wrong side of my grandson's tree, ya come here tinkin' yore better than me. Not if ya war my daughter, yo would!" Granny Grim waved a rolling pin as if challenging Aunt Kali to a duel.

Mandy hurried to intervene. "This is fine. I'll gladly patent it. Grim, let's get out of here."

He closed the kitchen with a "Stop fighting!" Just in time as cooking utensils started crashing against the wall.

The queen could sense some danger coming ahead.


	3. Let there be Darkness

Thank you so much for the kind reviews. It's really motivational and helps me to include the readers into the story. I warn you; it gets darker from this chapter on. I have the whole story thought out, but I need some help; I want to know what you want to read and work it into the story, some cool weapons for instance. Thanks.

* * *

The rivalry between Mandy and Mindy was old news to the Winter Gates. Anyone could have told you that the two young ladies were both royals of the blood and of almost the same status when Queen Claire, Mandy's mother died. The little heiress was only three years old, but the children of Winter Gates were different from other children throughout the world. In fact, Mandy was very gifted, intelligent and modest; virtues Mindy's family considered worthless. She was stern, but not a tyrant, as history and popular culture would later portray her.

But governing of Winter Gates was not limited to the Queen alone. In the early days of the kingdom the brightest heads of the population decided that to keep peace and equality between the mortal and immortal citizens a council with members of both kinds was needed to monitor and advise the Queen. The council, the Scythe Lodge was designed by the Grim Reaper, who had presided as head of the organization ever since. To keep a balance of power in the country the monarch was always a mortal woman, and the leader of the Scythe Lodge an immortal man. It may seem strange that Grim would want to form such strong personal bonds with someone he would later have to escort to the Land of the Dead, but all careers have a downside. That and Grim was thought, by the rest of the Lodge to be very helpful in developing Mandy's powers. Grim earned the prominent title "Queen's Professor" in a time of precarious economy, meaning there was an excellent chance of later upgrades.

Mindy was not rejected by the House of Mandy originally and had the same right to its fortune as the rest of the royals. But she was a spoiled, elitist brat and also an extremely narrow-minded student. Mandy was actually insightful enough to understand how people's favoring of her over Mindy must have been a blow. But everything happened for a reason. Mandy always said that if something seemed completely crazy at first it would make sense sooner or later, and the later it did the more you could learn.

Grim and Mandy formed a strong relationship, which was reinforced by Lady Mindy's rebellion. Typical for Mindy's little army was espionage, libelous slandering of the Queen and Scythe Lodge members, the occasional kidnappings of people from the lower classes and attempts of revolution. Mandy was afraid of revolution. At the age of seven a nearby country declared war on hers and she had to lead her armies into battle. She saw many good citizens fall that day, and it felt horrible. She remembered it as if it was yesterday.

_The rain of arrows had ended. The screaming, shouting and booming of the canons had ceased. There was an ethereal mist over the battlefields of Winter Gates, where brave men and women had sacrificed their lives to protect the Queen. But now the queen had returned to her castle, and was sitting alone in the throne room, quietly sobbing on the stairs to her dais. She did not even notice her most loyal companion entering the room._

"_Mandy, what is wrong?" Grim sat down next to her and put his hand on her arm._

_Mandy wiped her face. "So many innocent people are dead, Grim. And even worse, so many children have lost their parents because of me."_

"_Now, child, why do you think that?" Grim asked._

"_I lead them into battle. There was no other way to keep the enemy off our land, Grim. It was impossible to negotiate with them."_

_Grim looked at her; wise and understanding. His eye sockets were maybe empty and his heart silent, but he did indeed comprehend a lot. _

"_You made the only right choice, child. And you were very, very strong. You have not let anyone down."_

_Mandy wiped her face with the skirts of her dress. "You really think so?"_

"_I know so, I'm the Grim Reaper. In fact…"_

_Grim searched inside one of his sleeves, and his hand came out with a little velvet box. He opened it to reveal the jewel inside._

"_The Silver Scythe!" Mandy exclaimed._

"_That's correct," Grim replied. "This is only given to the brave and wise. If you were not worthy of it, its chain would never fit around your neck, but…"_

_Grim put the necklace around Mandy's neck and the ends of the thin silver chains magically merged seamlessly together. "Now, the first wearing of the Silver Scythe is supposed to be a grand occasion, but I figured this was better."_

_The little Queen smiled at Grim, though not with her lips, but with her eyes._

The memories filled Mandy's head. It was dinnertime at the castle, and the court, both humans and immortals were seated at the table. The Dimhald dining room had been depicted in several paintings over the years, prized for its lovely atmosphere and style. As with all interiors of Dimhald its architecture was a splendid combination of Byzantine, Gothic and by Mandy's order, a few Tudor elements. Dimhald was Winter Gates' shrine to history, beauty and culture fit for a queen. Seated under the huge stain glass panel depicting Mandy's great grandmother and her hunting party eating under a willow, the most joyous part of each day took place.

Mandy was served unfermented orange drink, a new and surprisingly good hit in the country, as well as a slice of rotisserie marlin by the servants who tended the table. Mandy was probably the only one in the castle who took pride in eating healthy. Billy, seated on the queen's right side, was blissfully stuffing his face with sweetmeat bars.

Outside the snow was falling, ensuring the cozy moment, until Grim came in through the archway. Dinnertime peace at court had only been disturbed a few times in the past, and it always meant bad news. "Your Majesty," he said apprehensively. "General Irwin is requesting an audience right away. He says it can't wait."

Mandy put her cup down. "Send him in."

General Irwin followed behind Grim before the banquet table wearing the Queen's uniform. He was quite brave and an asset, but was also known for being very awkward in formal settings. He had requested the Queen's hand in marriage many times before, and the Scythe Lodge had supported this, as he was a fine match and equally famous throughout the world. Mandy agreed with their logic, but luckily for her the perceptive Grim had deemed the queen as not in the right health for a marriage, much less having children, and so put an end to any proposals. Mandy was only ten years old, but this argument did not convince the Scythe Lodge as marriages were arranged for even younger royal women.

"Your Majesty, yo," the general cleared his throat. "Yesterday at 1900 hours, Officer Pud'n was reported missing. It has been 24 hours and he has not punched in or been seen. This can be due to a delay, but he has never before failed to send a message, yo."

The queen rose from her seat, her eyes sparkling dangerously. "I rather doubt that. Thank you, General. Grim, Billy, follow me."

In the hall of Mirrors, where the great parties and banquets found place in certain times of the year, there was a painting as big as a modern house. It depicted baby Mandy with her mother and father, and Mandy felt strange, as if the little girl in her parent's arms was a different person. Behind the portrait was a staircase of stone that lead to Mandy's secret magic room.

"Grim," she said solemnly. "Some time ago I read about the first ruler of Winter Gates, Queen Abigail, who found a way to keep her beauty and stay immortal. Thanks to a certain spell, and through not crying, smiling or showing any emotion at all she managed to postpone her death with eight hundred years."

Her adviser scoffed. "Oh, yes, I remember that. The Underworld Court lowered my paycheck because of that woman."

"She found this spell where we will find ours," Mandy pretended not to hear him. "Billy… she turned to her friend, who had picked down a bottle of arsenic from the many shelves in the dark room and was about to eat it's content.

"Yes, your Heinieness?" he answered.

"Go fetch… The Book of Hours. You know where it is."

Billy saluted her with a hand gesture. "Will do!"

As he scurried out, Mandy continued her story. "Abigail was known for being the most reviled ruler in history, as her thirst for everlasting life was a drain on the kingdom and its people. She also underestimated her enemies. It was this mistake that took her life, not old age. I will not be the one who repeats this mistake."

Billy returned through his favorite passage – the chimney. This was why the tailors made his clothes a bit less elaborate than the rest of the court.

"Here's your book, Mandy! I left a surprise between page 50 and 52."

Mandy opened the book to find a sweetmeat bar stuck between a picture of The Boogeyman and a recipe for creamed corn. She groaned; leave it to Billy to defile a priceless artifact.

Now, Mandy's Book of Hours was a curious item. Historically a Book of Hours was and is a Christian prayer book used by nuns, monks and those who could afford one. Because of their illuminated manuscripts and intricate illustrations they were very expensive. The official religion of regions nearby was Catholicism and because of this "Book of Hours" was a great soubriquet. This edition contained information about various evil creatures, demons and historical human villains. In times of war, like Mandy now feared was about to knock at the door, formulas for curses, potions and spells would appear on the random empty pages, complete with pictures and all.

"Now, dis is interesting," said a voice. Granny Grim was standing next to Mandy. "Do yer mind?"

She held the book with awe. "Now, I haven't seen dis'un since mah school girl days, back in de Ice Age dat was."

Mandy was busy taking down ingredient bottles from the shelves. "What is it?"

"De Darkness." Granny Grim looked very somber when she said this and it was easy to see where Grim had inherited his authoritative charisma.

"De Darkness is very black magic and is affili-a-ted with de darkest of demans. One who controls De Darkness can suck the soual right ote of de victims' bodies and contain dem. It counts as murder, and is forbidden by the Underworld Court except for in especial cases."

Mandy turned around with a look of evil in her eyes. "Dear minions," she said coldly. "Let there be Darkness."

Granny Grim did not look too shocked; actually this was a chance to finally prove that she was a better potion maker than Aunt Kali. She brought out a large iron cauldron from the fireplace and placed the book on an apothecary table. "Two ounces of fairy blood, ten eyes from caged birds, five beheaded nerglings," she chanted. Billy brought the items blissfully down from the shelves and poured them into the cauldron. A smoke rose from its bottom and took form as pentagrams.

"Four Sassycat's paws, a gallon juice of nightshade, a pint of abscess from a dead man's boils," she continued. Grim and Mandy stirred the cauldron with long stone bars. Black smoke rose from the brew in shape of humans writhing in agony.

"And now, to give life to dis horrer, the Darkness' curse!"

Granny Grim added some cerulean liquid over the frothing mass and chanted a curse on a strange language. Her voice was booming and the contents of the cauldron rose and finally, took shape as a vast demon made of black smoke. In its vines Mandy could discern human arms, faces and legs; she realized it was a demon consisting of many smaller demons and ghosts. Its ectoplasmic eyes fixated on Billy and reached its gruesome tendrils at him. Granny Grim intervened in time and opened a bottle the shape of Mandy's head, and in a few seconds the entire thing was contained inside. Billy just smiled like a moron.

Mandy was staggered at the awful thing she had created and wondered if there were similar things in Mindy's arsenal.

The Book of Hours would never have suggested this abomination unless there was.


	4. Mr Nice Creep

And the fan fiction ballet goes on. It's wonderful way to pass the time on a weeknight with crappy weather.

Everybody: There's been a misunderstanding – Mandy's right age is fourteen in the fic. Irwin started bugging her for her hand when she was ten and the Endsville-children's ages are 14 to 16 years. So sorry if anyone was creeped out, totally my fault :/

* * *

Boogeyman had been in Underworld Jail for the last three hundred years. It was a minor term, but being anywhere just for a little while can be extremely tedious when people around you are immune to your objectionable antics. If you're an objectionable person, that is; a description that fit Mr. Boogeyman like a glove. He had been imprisoned for having spellbound a mortal teenage nun. He tricked her into serving the entire nunnery fruit punch 'perfumed' with arsenic, just for the fun of it. It had been a real mess for the Underworld Police, because this did not happen in Winter Gates where all humans were used to weird things. They had to clean up the chaos at its site in England and make sure that the poor unknowing perpetrator got away scot-free as it was not her fault. The Lodge and Underworld Court placed her in witness protection at a convent in Switzerland, and Boogeyman was faced with 300 years of cold showers, runny tasteless prison food and tailoring clothes for nerds.

Boogeyman had been released early on good behavior, but only to find that his house and all of his stuff had been sold in a bankruptcy auction. Aghast he had wandered around downtown until hunger and the weather of Winter Gates drove him inside somewhere. The only "somewhere" open at that time of night was the infamous tavern "Shady Regulars". Plague rats, fleas and the neighbors' dubious activities aside, it was the only place he could afford. By the third day of his stay money was running short and he wondered what to do next. He did not have to worry long. That night he met what looked like a young couple at first. They bought him drinks and urged him to tell them about himself. They told Boogeyman that they were newlyweds looking for a place to build a house in town. After the fourth cider, when he had lost the feeling that they already knew all about him, they stated their true business.

The couple consisted of Sperg, Mindy's favorite goon, and a red-headed girl a bit older than him. Her name was Flynn Ghastly, known as just Ghastly. She had recently joined forces with Mindy after the Queen had arrested Ghastly's former boss for treason. Sperg and Ghastly's mission was to find someone of great supernatural power to aid Lady Mindy of the small county of Crumcrust. Her not-so-much lamented sidekick had recently been laid off, as his only idea had been to put rat poop in the court's hippocras.

Boogeyman had been reluctant. The pay seemed decent and his job would be to do what he was best at; being a pain in the derriere. But still – what did they want him to do? He seriously doubted that they would have come to him unless there was some immediate major plan. He was a professional, for goodness' sake.

He had met Lady Mindy personally at her once so proud manor. She had, while all the time twisting a lock of her hair, told him that she wanted him to aid her in overthrowing Mandy. By finding the Book of Hours they could use the queen's own magic to render her powerless. It was a good idea; keeping in mind that it came from an airhead like Mindy.

Oh, yes, Boogeyman had thought to himself. Her Royal Majesty Mandy, the child queen; too young to be beautiful, as her best years were yet to come. She was earlier known as the sickliest, most frail child of Queen Claire and king consort Phil. She was born on a very cold night in December, he remembered that very good, as royal announcers had wakened the entire city right after her birth, as the court physician doubted the little princess would even survive the night. But she outlived her parents, who died from tuberculosis, and was left to be raised by teachers, and also Grim.

Mandy had so far been the most proactive monarch. By the end of the second year of her regency she had built four orphanages, two women's shelters as well as the Southern Sun Hospital for lunatics. He did not know whether these were acts of paranoia or good will. But if you asked any battered woman or insane person in the city you'd found out how little it mattered. Boogeyman could have said no and went straight to the Queen to warn her, but… you know. It was not in his nature to be Mr. Nice Creep.

So, now he was lurking on the outside of the gates to Dimhald Castle, with Ghastly and Sperg. They were all wearing Mandy's emblem on the sleeves of their navy blue parkas. These emblems had been stolen from kidnapped Scythe Lodge officials who may or may not have survived the excruciating interrogations of Lady Mindy's goons. Even though these amulets were the finest work of Schlub cloisonné and with Mandy's colors rendered in fused glass and enamel on pure silver, Ghastly looked down on hers with distaste, as if it was a sacrilege. Boogeyman could not help but thinking that Mandy had far better taste than her rival.

Dimhald Castle was a splendid sight. Its security was also overpowering, not to mention formidable. The entire outer courtyard was bordered by a fifty yard high wall molded right out of harsh grey mountain, with three guards per battlement. Boogeyman counted fifty battlements only on the west side, and also kept in mind the guards' village around the wall. There was a big cluster of small log cabins, the largest could be found at the west waterfall, where many guards off duty were fishing for char and trout. He could not help himself but indulging in a wicked smile as he saw six little children in woolen pelerines having a snowball fight and then gathered to warm their hands on the outdoor fireplace, where a woman was frying fish on a rotisserie.

"Oh, look," said Ghastly in a cold voice. It was like Mandy's, but lacked the power. "We're inside someone's happy-place."

"Let's make sure we have our stories straight," Boogeyman replied to avoid more of Ghastly's sharp words. "If anyone stops us, we're the Lodge members back from the intercity kids' education program survey. Sperg, I take it you have the faux report ready?"

Sperg shook a ribboned scroll triumphantly. "It's all ready."

No guards stopped them at the magnificent wrought iron gate. (Hundreds of years later there would be a similar gate with a certain city's name in iron letters at this site.) Neverless, Sperg kept the report papers visible.

"Welcome," one of Mandy's said as he unlocked the gates.

Boogeyman checked his spring clock; 9 pm. "OK, everybody. The watch is tripled at the Queen's bed time, which is in half an hour. Let's make it snappy."

"You're saying you wanna steal a book, from under her bed, while she's sleeping in it?" Sperg looked at Boogey as if he had turned crazy.

"Yes," Boogey answered deviously.

"And how, exactly, are we gonna land that?" Ghastly tucked a few hairs back in her knot. Boogeyman looked up at the Queen's window.

"Don't worry. I know what to do."


	5. They Took Our Queen

"…And so, the poor major suffered a javelin in her heart, struggling in front of Death. The General tried to reach out his hand to save her, but no one could. She fell to the ground, with _gore_ smeared over the last garments she would ever wear in this life. And as her rebellious soul was dragged to the Underworld, kicking and screaming in agony, hopes of victory filled the hearts of her adversaries." Grim closed his large book.

Mandy finished her warm milk and leant back in her bed. "Those memoirs are interesting," she said. She was not too tired; but the rules were clear for underage monarchs. These rules consisted of bedtime before 10pm, up at eight, everyday baths, no sugar of alcohol during weekdays and five hours of school every day except for Sundays. Sundays were reserved for outside activities, relaxation and entertainment at the theatre. Mandy took painting courses on these days and organized her huge napkin collection.

Grim dimmed the oil lamps. "Thanks. Good night, then."

"Good night," Mandy muttered; her eyelids were heavy as stones all of a sudden. Grim closed the bedchamber door and set course for his quarters, a pot of tea and a ton of paperwork.

Major Doctor Ghastly had never seen a more opulent place in her life. Jhonen con Carne was the last one she had worked for, but as he was apprehended, prosecuted and beheaded for treason against the Queen, she had been out of work, and the comfortable accommodations of his mansion replaced by various taverns and boarding houses for her part.

She adjusted her large, special-made spectacles. This was her biggest weakness – terrible eyesight. The corridors were empty. "So, what is your master plan, anyway?" she asked Boogeyman. "Yeah, yeah, we knock the chamber guards with good night-gas, and then what? We replace the Book with a voodoo doll?"

"No, no, no," Boogey retorted. "That's so last year. What I have in mind may surprise even a lady like _you_." He directed his gaze to Ghastly's bosom, more or less to scare her. She was not his type anyway. He liked his women young, very young, a fact he was glad did not come out among the inmates in prison. But Ghastly knew all about it.

"Gosh, you're a creep," she said and shuddered.

"Thank you, honey."

"Enough already!" Sperg exclaimed.

The Queen's bedroom was well guarded. No one was allowed near her door nighttime. In older times disturbing the Queen's sleep would be punished with beheading. Mandy's mother was the one to abolish this law, even though the Lodge was critical. They compromised by hiring guards educated in the protection of women.

"Ghastly?" Boogeyman said like a magician to his assistant. Ghastly had a makeshift canister in her shoulder bag that she pulled the pin out of and rolled it across the floor with her foot.

The effect was impressive for all the wrong reasons, as with most of Boogey's warped schemes. The color of the gas faded from dark blue to green to pink, and when it vaporized completely, three guards were face-down on the floor. The trio removed their masks.

"Now, that went just beautiful," Sperg looked at Ghastly, and both of them chortled.

Mandy was sleeping tightly, looking just like any other child. Boogeyman truly enjoyed seeing a woman so helpless and unknowing; this was after all a woman's place by his standards. He hovered by her side as Sperg crawled under the bed.

It was completely dark under the bed, but Sperg was very experienced in the art of stealing things. He dragged his fingers over the stone floor, and found the bolts he knew would be there, and triumphantly opened it. He did not notice losing his stolen Ouroboros emblem.

The Book of Hours was truly a work of art. The hardback was lined with white gold, and to their surprise, there was no padlock or code mechanism. There was a lovely decorated tab on top, as with most prayer books of that time, to suspend from the belt of a farthingale. Sperg opened it to reveal –

"There's no text."

Ghastly's jaw dropped. Boogeyman just looked down on his long, dirty fingernails as if he was bored. He had expected something like this.

"I know."

"Then why," Ghastly whispered ominously, "Did you drag us into this snake pit to find it?"

Boogeyman put on an insulted face. "Hey, _I_ know what to do, sugar pie. After all, it was my plan, so don't worry. I would _never_ do _anything_ to wrinkle your face."

Ghastly had never been treated like this in her life. "You're a douchebag, Booger."

A snore from Mandy made the group jump and Boogeyman did not want to waste any more time. He sat down next to the Queen and very unexpectedly, tapped her shoulder. Her eyes flung open.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bacy."

"Gri-"

He covered her mouth, and tapped her on the forehead. She fainted immediately, and Boogeyman wrapped her swiftly up in the blanket.

"You're actually kidnapping the Queen?!" Ghastly glared at him. "You're loonier than I tell people!"

Sperg looked out the door. "I guess we have four minutes before having to lay our heads on the block."

"Right." Boogeyman lifted Mandy up. She was as light as a feather.

The snowfall had died down in the night, and a dreadful cold had replaced it as the trio of intruders was running away from Dimhald Castle. The air snapped at Mandy's naked feet, and she opened her eyes. The wind was soon replaced by that strange sensation of water. Someone pulled up the blanket over her face and she was lulled back into a dreamless sleep.

Somewhere else, in the potions cellar, a very particular vial, whose contents had lain dormant had noticed a certain disruption. But now it started bubbling and from the bottom of the vial it reached up its dark tendrils. The cork was pulled, and disembodied voices started whispering gloomily from the depths of The Darkness. It floated, like a lazy waterfall, out of the bottle, down from the shelf, onto the floor, and slowly engulfed the entire room with its menacing murky glow. A smoky veil assumed form as an arm, and reached for the door handle…

Grim was up early for some, as he called it, "relaxation". By tapping his scythe three times music very ahead of its time, a dulcet jazzy flute and seductively beating drums emitted from thin air. He lit up a pipe which may or may not contain regular tobacco and turned pages in an illuminated manuscript mostly depicting magical creatures. The Dimhald Library was the only part of the castle Billy avoided, and therefore, Grim's favorite spot.

Grim was "relaxed", alright. He was lost in a vision in which a lovely harpy reached her hands out to dance with him, until he heard someone came running. He quickly put out the pipe and hid it, as well as the book. The humiliation if anyone found out he read that kind of literature? Unbearable.

"What's happening?" he asked the guards who came in, dizzy and disoriented. One of them had an injured nose.

One of the aquamarine – skinned guard flapped his bat wings. "The Queen is not in her bed. We looked everywhere; she's gone, even her blanket is gone!"

-

Grim felt very uneasy as he entered Mandy's chamber. The first thing he noticed was how ash from the fire place had scattered over the Tyrian purple and olive green carpet. Someone had knocked over an armchair, and the four-poster bed was an incredible chaos. He crossed the room and knocked on the door to her private boudoir.

"Mandy?"

No answer. Grim entered – the room was as tidy as it always was, in contrast to the other room. Uneasiness evolved into intense worry. He was about to run down the stairs as he stepped on something.

It was a Scythe Lodge emblem, and he had broken it. He picked it up.

The guard returned. "Last night, while we were guarding the Queen's door, we heard a noise from around the corner. But before we could investigate, this was thrown at us, and we all fainted."

Grim looked at the canister-like device. He immediately remembered it from his school days.

"The Queen has been kidnapped by the Boogeyman." Grim said sullenly; angry with himself for not having foreseen an incident like this. "But please, do not…"

The guards ignored him and hustled down the stairs. "The Queen has been kidnapped! The Queen has been stolen! They took our Queen!"

Grim followed as fast as he could, but the damage was done.

The rest of the court was gathered in the dining hall, where they were served breakfast by Granny Grim and Aunt Kali.

"They took our Queen!"

The people in the court stared at the guards. And then –

"They took our Queen?" a little princess asked.

"They took our Queen," the guard replied worryingly.

"They TOOK our Queen! Came from the left corner.

"Dey _stall_ our Queen!" Granny Grim joined in the choir.

"They took our Queen!" Came from the people at the right corner.

"They took our jobs!" Billy shouted.

Everybody looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Billy scratched his head. "Oh, eh, they took our Queen!" He raised his fist angrily.

----


	6. Southern Sun

"You idiot!" Mindy grabbed a plate of macaroons and threw them at Boogeyman, who ducked just in time, but had his collar filled with crumbs and shards.

"This was nowhere in the plans, you moron!" she grabbed a pile of books in a fit of rage and hurled them at him. "We might as well just march right back in town and confess right now, you… You…"

"Let me explain…"

Mindy's eyes all but shot lightning bolts. "Jerk!" she tossed the last book at him, and it hit him in the shoulder. It really hurt.

"Take a deep breath, ma'am. You're _way_ off. Let me explain."

Mindy looked at him as if he was a disgusting cockroach, but eventually took a deep breath and sat back down in her armchair. "This better be _good_."

Boogeyman flipped pages in the Book of Hours. "This thingamajig is useless to us. I knew you were ignorant of this as you hired me for this task."

"Quest," Mindy corrected.

"Whatever; anyway my shoes got dirty," he replied dryly. "As I said; useless. _Uuu_seless. But that's temporary. And you know… Now that Winter Gates is without the buffer that lets two worlds function, as well as its adorable little curator, the balance of power rests on _you_." He placed his cold hands on Mindy's shoulders. "And that's gotta feel… amazing."

"Without the Queen present, Mandy's people are doomed. You remember learning in school that the laws that allow mortals and Underworld creatures function together. To break these laws… Well, that's like antidepressants and greasy foods. Apart, mostly harmless. But when consumed together…"

He picked up Mindy's cup tea and one of his trusted poison vials. The "poison" was nothing more than a tooth ache remedy, although known to give weird side effects if the unfortunate user had eaten any stimulants prior. He added a small drop, and the effect was… effective. The tea cup's content frothed, swelled and exploded.

"They become the Folie à Deux of bad lifestyle change in which the results never vary – failure, loss, crisis… Especially without a buffer of some kind… Something to balance it out. Understand?" He sat down and crossed his legs.

"You don't expect me to think for myself, do you, toothpick?" Mindy snapped angrily, like the valley girl princess she was. Boogey groaned.

"Of course not," he said, pretending to empathize with her ridiculous torment. "I only suggest that you give me another chance. Remember, we have a house guest that will be needing a welcome wagon any time now."

Mandy woke up and immediately started coughing. She lay on a white stone floor wearing nothing but a long chemise, in a vast, empty room. She felt drowsy and it was difficult to sit up.

"Hello?" she croaked.

No answer. She crawled over to the wall and held on to it, fighting her way up into a standing position just like an infant. She failed, sunk down to her knees and started rocking back and forth, nauseous.

"Hello? Where am I? What's happening?"

"Oh, you're awake. Excellent."

Mandy's eyes widened as Boogeyman, one of the Winter Gates' most notorious criminals, just walked right through the wall with two equally wanted goons. Boogey was dressed in a custom-made lab coat and carrying a clipboard.

"Where am I?" she repeated.

"You are in Southern Sun, your very own mental hospital. I used to work here, you know. And some of my contacts here agreed that you would benefit from a stay here."

Mandy crawled into the corner and embraced her knees while trying to find out what to do. Boogey sat down next to her. "You have been sick, Miss Mandy. What do you think, nurse Butterbean?"

Butterbean smiled; a deceitful smile, but Mandy could see in her eyes that she was possessed. Mandy blinked slowly; she felt numb as if sleeping.

"Where is my head band?" she noticed her hair being loose.

"We took it away. We didn't want you to try and hurt yourself with it."

Of course.

"I feel honored, well, kinda, to finally meet You, Your Majesty," Boogeyman said and smiled in a similar manner to Butterbean. "It's been a while since I was an accepted attendee at court."

Mandy took a deep breath and replied him with all the pokerfaced dignity she could muster. "And why is that, I wonder? How many more cases of hepatitis have you managed to spread around lately?"

"Oh, I don't know – fifty… Wait, that's not the point!" Boogeyman was angered. "Your silly laws alienated me! I used to be the most terrifying demon and bang, bang! There you were, with your no-bullying-humans policy and anti-terrorism laws making sure no one would ever feel like putting a file in _my_ birthday cake!"

"I'm sure that's not the only reason, you freak. If I'm not all wrong, some of your most heinous crimes include releasing the Black Death on humans as well as the so-called "Vogue" where you possessed young women into eat their kids."

"Husbands," Boogey corrected. "And_ I_ did the cooking."

"You're sick." Mandy's eyes were narrow.

Boogeyman snorted and he cracked a twisted smile that gave some sharp teeth fresh air. "Oh, man, I'm _such_ a _sucker_ for flattery. Thank you…"

The Book of Hours lay open at his feet. As it could feel Mandy getting angrier and angrier, it chose to divulge sketch of The Darkness. Boogeyman saw it and picked up the illuminated book.

"So this is your master plan, Your Majesty," he said in petrified disbelief. Mandy glared impudently back, which just enraged him. He lifted her up by the underarms and held her hard back against the wall. "Tell me now."

Mandy turned her face away in disgust. "Let go of me, you deviant!" Her naked foot hit him right in the knee.

"Oh, damn it!" He dropped her, and she stepped back against the wall again.

"I wish you hadn't done that. Nurses?"

Boogey's two assistants, Ghastly and a dark-haired woman better known as Margaret Butterbean, flung the door open. They wore matching nurse's uniforms that looked nothing like the typical ones of the Mandy Dynasty.

Ghastly pulled up Mandy's sleeve and manhandled her arm. Boogeyman retrieved an implement of glass and metal; a needle, and an ampoule with a glowing green liquid from his bag.

"No!" Mandy screamed.

"Oh, why the long face? This will make it all better, tut, tut," Boogeyman wiped her arm with an antiseptic pad and injected her very professionally.

The substance stung like bees all the way from the vein to her central nervous' system, and she groaned in disgust.

"Good girl. Now..."

Boogeyman clicked his fingers, and Mandy saw the lowering of a bundle of harness in different sizes.

"We developed this in my time here. Of course I needed the best test subject for it, and here you are."

"I'll…" Mandy struggled to breathe, "Will… make sure… you… face the… breaking wheel."

"Oh, why _can't_ you see my genius?" Boogey clenched his fists and looked melodramatically into the ceiling. "I am _so sick_ of humans like you and the old cheap tricks of possessing them and scourging them with nightmares and social diseases. It's time for an advance in my profession. Nurses?"

The two 'nurses' grabbed Mandy's hands and feet before lifting her up and securing her belly up in the harness.

He stroked her hair gently and removed it from underneath the harness, so she could feel the cool air on her neck. "Relax now and enjoy the ride, Your Majesty."

Nurse Butterbean pulled a switch and the harness lifted Mandy up. A trap door in the ceiling opened automatically, or so it would seem, and as she cursed Boogey's name the lights in the room started flickering between pitch black and too bright. Mandy trembled and groaned, visions of faces popped out from behind the flashing shadows, but before she could identify any of them, it stopped. The harness stopped pulling as well.

She gasped as she tilted her head to look down; it was apparently no "down", just a bottomless crater of shadows.

"Help!"

The cry was just sucked into nothingness. Her heartbeat however echoed around the place and then the strains loosened from the coil and sent her screaming down the dark shaft. She had never been so scared, not even in the past when facing fears others would die from. Her heart skipped at let four beats and she counted her blessings. What she wouldn't give to be at home again.

The falling sensation passed, and when she opened her eyes, Irwin stood before her offering her a daisy. "Hello, my pet. Long time, no see."

Mandy clenched her fists. "Oh, Boogeyman, curse you!" tears welled up in her eyes. She kicked and kicked and thrashed, fighting the restraints and screaming.

"Mandy." A voice broke through, a voice she had not heard for a very long time. A pair of warm, sweetly scented hands wrapped around hers.

"Mom?"

A tall, blonde woman appeared before Mandy; and it _was _her mother, though wearing plain clothing and almost no makeup. She smiled kindly.

"Why don't you join us, Mandy? Come back."

"Mom!" Mandy cried out. "Help me!"

The walls of gloom perished and the room started flooding with cascades of water. It filled the area like grain in a silo, and it felt like cool air on sunburned skin. Mandy drifted upwards, but only halfway to the surface, hovering like an odd balloon. The water brushed her hair up and it floated around her face like seaweed in low current.

Before the pressure of the depths crushed her body an entity dressed in black swam up to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the surface. By a touch of his hand the harness disintegrated and she was free to breathe.

"Grim?" she coughed.

"Don't worry, Mandy. We'll be home in a second."

"Oh, Grim, it was awful. I thought I was gonna die." She shivered as she climbed out of the tank.

Grim wringed water out of his garments. "Not on my watch." He wrapped her up in her coat, that he had taken with him.

"The forces will be here any minute now to seize Boogeyman. But I need to get you out first."

Before they got to go anywhere, the door to the floatation room went up, and a scary-looking orderly with a straight-jacket in his hands marched in, heading for Mandy.

"Ok, miss Mandy. Time for your feeding."

Grim did not look too rattled. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned to the man.

"I guess no one held you when you were little." Grim looked bored.

The orderly stopped, sunk to his knees and cried pitifully.

* * *

Don't be angry at Boogeyman. Maybe he's trying to save Mandy... Sort of?


	7. Three Judges

The notification reached all the citizens of eminence in Winter Gates the next evening – an emergency Scythe Lodge meeting.

The scythe Lodge dispensed three different constituents of the ruling methods of that time – justice, education and regime, through the independent Three Judges; Roy Spleen, Grim Reaper and the mortal Reginald Skarr. "Independent" in that they each specialized in one of these building blocks and individually had equal power. A legend has it that there was some kind of a hive mind-connection between them. Of course, there was no real evidence to support this rumor, apart from their remarkably witty penchant for bickering. And maybe their shared bad mood.

The only party more powerful than the Three Judges was of course, Queen Mandy. However, when the judges were seated in the great courtroom they had the power to decide over her over a new law for example, if their proposal was better than hers their law could be ratified by a 'commoner vote'.

The Scythe Lodge courtroom was located near the town square, as it was a tourist attraction. It was possible for regular people to enter the building, but only a small group of people were allowed in the heart of it at a time. This was the second most sacred place in the entire world of Winter Gates, second after Mandy's bedroom.

The rectangle courtroom was designed to please the eyes of royalty. It was high under the ceiling and lit up by three splendid chandeliers, and the carved stone walls decorated with paintings, tapestries and stained glass windows depicting officers of court and commoners in work. Over the three oak benches there was a large painting of Mandy, positioned to make a parallel with the hearts of the judges, and a colorful stain glass panel depicting a group of medieval princesses quilting. The patches consisted of pages from the Mandy's Law.

It was an unusual number of people in the courtroom that night. The horseshoe-shaped desk below the tall bench was the seat of the most trusted servants of the Queen. Also the more powerful forces in the kingdom; Nergal, The Spider Queen, Eris and Mrs. Doolin; Billy and Mandy's governess, had a position here. To their right were General Irwin and Major Hoss Delgado.

Boogeyman should have had a place here, but had no right to claim it, as he had killed a number of mortal women. The judges knew he just could not help himself. In Winter Gates all mortal women were the objects of love and respect, because Mandy was one of them. All the seats in the jury box were taken, and most of them were conversing softly. With some exceptions.

A green-skinned elephant-like jury member wrote something on his clipboard and turned to a short man in a top hat sitting next to him.

"Hi, I'm Fred Fredburger, and don't you think these meetings are boring? It's like, um, when they say boredom is good for you, I agree that's it's only good sometimes. Yes."

The top-hat'ed man groaned. "Be quiet, you fool! The queen has arrived!"

The room silenced to the sound of trumpet players on a balcony above the benches, and everyone rose from their seats.

Mandy entered the room, with Bailiff Fly following behind her. She was pale, very pale, but showed no other signs of weariness after that horrible clash with the Boogeyman. She was dressed in a black brocade dress lined with gilded edges and intricate gold embroidery, over a wide farthingale. Her visage was unusually grim, and it disturbed some of the others. She stepped up to the dais in the right corner, which was prepared for her.

The trumpets sounded again. Two lovely little princesses opened the arched double doors next to the bench, and bowed gracefully to the judges as they entered the court. Grim first, and Spleen with Skarr following. They were majestically clad in long, black robes. Spleen even had a wig on, although everyone knew it was because of his own vanity more than obligation.

The Queen laid her right hand on her heart and the left on the scroll Fly was carrying. It was her duty to swear the oath on behalf of everyone in the room.

"Whatever fate gave us the power to separate right from wrong - let only that fate bring injustice."

The judges sat down, Grim to the left, Spleen in the middle and Skarr to the right. Everyone else sat down, and Fred Fredburger eventually followed.

"Now," Judge Skarr cleared his throat. "I requested this meeting because four days ago our most revered citizen was kidnapped by the Boogeyman."

In a different time the people in the courtroom would have laughed when hearing Boogey's name. Nowadays it was always accompanied by angry chattering and mumbling.

"The chamber guards at duty that night," Skarr was interrupted by Billy giggling. Mrs. Doolin slapped him with the hard side of her farthingale.

"But he said "doody," Billy insisted.

"_Has_ already given us their statements and they corroborate each others." Billy's interruptions had grown on Skarr. "And we found out – Boogeyman kidnapped Mandy in order to sell our secrets to Mindy and the Crumcrust thugs!"

Everybody booed and hurled paper. Nergal swung his skinny fist over his head. "Communism! This is the first wave, people!"

The Three Judges banged their gavels twice in unison.

"His criminal record started early," Grim said somberly and read up from an immense and overflowing folder labeled "Boogeyman" in all thinkable alphabets, including Fluvii and Cyrillic. "First offense – putting weevils in me salad. After finishing school he started as an in-turn at Southern Sun psychiatric, where he performed nasty experiments on several patients. It was only after the incident at the nunnery we finally caught up with him."

"And the morons at the penitentiary let him leave on good behavior, without consulting us. We should have gone colonial on their hides!" Skarr banged his fists into the counter.

Grim almost sighed. "We had no choice. The democracy makes it possible for a prisoner that has not hurt herself slash himself or others to be released…"

Mrs. Doolin, Mandy and Eris fanned themselves. Scythe Lodge meetings were by far the best entertainment since dirty limericks.

It was Judge Spleen's time to talk. "What we have previously agreed upon is that Boogeyman is a homicidal maniac. Our main priority concerning him is to keep him safely locked up. And that pretty much sums it up for now." Spleen sighed and folded his hands on the table.

"And what about the long-term plan?" Grim was not pleased, either was Mandy. She squeezed her fan ominously.

"We'll get back to that. There's a different reason for tonight's meeting. A far more troublesome reason. Will Your Majesty please step forward?"

Spleen cleared his throat as Mandy approached. "Your Majesty was taken by Boogeyman on Tuesday evening. During the interrogation said perpetrator admits to have stolen the Book of Hours, which displayed the spell for creating The Darkness."

The court was silent as the grave. Even Fred Fredburger looked serious.

"Did Her Majesty generate The Darkness?"

Mandy looked up at him. It was made by her order, as she never touched any of the components herself. But she was not about to tell on Granny Grim, as at least Skarr and Spleen would place the blame on her. And although Grim was there that night, she had to answer for herself. He had no power over her. "Yes, I did. I produced and contained The Darkness in order to restock my arsenal."

This was not completely true, and Mandy could see they did not believe her.

"And why did Her Majesty not consult us? The Darkness is a black, evil force, not a potion. Furthermore…"

"Excuse me, Judge, but something smells stinky!" Fred Fredburger broke the rising tension. Spleen looked up and his gaze was drawn to the window.

Through the glass he could see houses in the distance, swimming in flames. Everyone else heard the people's screaming first and they turned their heads. Before anyone reacted the window was smashed open. Billions of shards from the irreplaceable stained glass rained down on the Lodge members, and an all too familiar guest came floating in on an enchanted shield.

"Hello, there. I believe it's time to start the negotiations."


	8. City on Fire

Frogman: Thank you so much . And I totally agree with you. Fred Fredburger is definitely not a character I could ever work with. Sure, his behavior is funny and contrasts very to the stiff courtroom-setting, but even kids get fed up. But as the ongoing theme in my art projects this spring is heraldry and the justice system I just couldn't avoid him. But it was unnatural. Writing for the rest of the characters just "happens", because everyone else, even Billy develops nicely in the show. :D Warning: Death and graphic violence ahead. And so, here we are at chapter nine. The city is on fire and Grim has limited time to save Mandy before she slips away.

The prima donna wore nothing but undergarments as she rehearsed on stage. It was the night before Nergal Juniors latest triumph – a whole new opera, an epos about the fountain of youth. Everybody was busy. Costume managers, dancers, choir girls and stage hands rehearsed and worked in the background with clothing and props. Two of the older ballerinas were drinking heavily from a champagne bottle they shared between them. Oona, the prima donna, was the most insecure star he had ever worked with.

Madame Warden, the overseer of the actors came running elegantly across the stage. "I'm sorry maestro," she said with her whiskey voice, "But mademoiselle's wig is here now and her dress came back all too long…"

"Ok, then," Junior sighed. "Ten minutes."

Later, Oona's face had been carefully painted, and she was clothed in lovely white lace. "I'm ready now."

He raised his baton elegantly. The orchestra quickly hid their bottles and a peaceful breath of bassoons emerged from the pit. As the tone's pitch went higher, Oona started singing. "_It's neither wealth nor love she wants, merely peace of mind_…" The prompt waved his hand and the dancers, in veily mint costumes came floating across the stage.

Oona took a deep breath and started the brigde of the aria. Then, out of nowhere the singer was pierced from behind by an arrow. She fell to the floor like a ragdoll. The ballerinas screamed in terror and Junior looked up, gasping. Two of them fainted as he came running. "Oh, my God, Oona," he sat down on his knees and lay the singer's head in his lap. The arrow obtruded repulsively from her chest and her body jerked once, and then lay still.

The little ballerinas jumped frantically up and down. "Murder!" they screamed.

"Girls!" Junior tried to avoid a panic. "Go to your dormitory and report to the governess immediately!"

The doors to the theatre swung open and a whole army came marching. The little dancers yelped pitifully and clung close to each other as these brutes came crashing in through the windows, running down from the fly galleries and the fire escape. The staff and performers of The Royal Opera were mesmerized as three of Mindy's thugs even lowered themselves from the chandelier.

"What is going on?" Nergal Junior snarled as he was arrested by Sperg, who had just been promoted from captain to commandant.

"Orders from Winter Gates' new Queen," Sperg said as he dragged him towards the exit. "We are here to arrest every bearer of Mandy's emblem. We have a list here, and all we request of you is that you give up their locations. Or else!"

"But why did you kill Mme. Oona?"

Sperg glanced at Oona's body. Her wound leaked blood over most of the stage. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, not the least bit sorry. "That one was meant for you."

Junior clenched his teeth and a tentacle shot out through the back of his black and read houppelande. The privates immediately armed their crossbows and pointed them at the little actresses.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you, loser," Sperg said. "Because of your powers Mindy wants you dead _or_ alive. So give up your allies, geek wad!"

There were at least two more of these in Junior's opera house. "That won't happen."

"Really?" Junior's captor snapped his fingers, and the ring of privates pointed their bows at the dancers. They cried pitifully. Junior realized he had no choice.

Mindy hovered down from the sill on a floating shield, very smugly with her hands resting on her hips. Mandy was dying to tell her how fat she looked in that pink thing, but stayed quiet.

"Hello there. I believe it's time to start the negotiations."

A very old man in a wheel chair next to the jury box put a brass horn to his ear. "What?" he said in a squeaky voice. He used to be the mortal one of the Three Judges until he had to retire.

As Mindy hovered by him, she disrespectfully kicked the old man's horn out of his bony, weak fist. "While the stupid ugly people of this stupid ugly city are fighting the fire, you'll listen to me very carefully."

Everybody stared. Mrs. Doolin clenched her fist and thought of her glory days as a wrestling diva. The old judge held his ear horn keenly to his ear, even though it was on the floor. Mindy tossed her long red hair. "There's gonna be changes, changes to the better and prettier. Because in three days I will be the Queen of Winter Gates, and own every single one of you."

Billy started crying.

"…But don't worry. I'm fair. You'll have twenty-four hours to prepare your army. We'll play by _Mandy's_ rules. Sounds fair?"

"This is ridiculous," the Three Judges scoffed in unison. "No way that…" they started arguing again. Mandy was aghast; the three fools could actually muster the peace of mind to squabble even when face to face with a threat. If there was a next week she would replace them with the Secret Snake Club instead.

The older judge, who had now recovered his ear pipe, squeaked: "Illegal warfare, this is. And against the Queen's…"

"Silence, you old toad," Mindy barked.

Mandy had carefully considered her enemy's words. "I see Boogeyman has taught you how to intimidate," She said and stepped down from the velvet draped dais. "The truth is that the last time I checked Boogey's power of intimidation is as weak as his sick mind. You have no authority here, you smart mouthed imp. I am the Queen of Winter Gates! I will protect my people, no matter what! I have saved them from invasions, wars, endemics and famine, and knocking off a jerk like you won't even make my achievements list."

It looked like Mandy had stuck her enemy in the proverbial vice. Then -

"No legal way, you say? Unfortunately for you, Winter Gates has no worldly allies. So, my declaration of warfare is legal enough. The Book of Hours can't save you now; I know all your little secrets!" Mindy cackled viciously. One of the jurors was so enraged he hurled his cup of hippocras at her, and hit her right in her precious forehead. The wine splattered her dress, and she gasped.

"Twenty four hours."


	9. Queen of the People part 1

Wee! Part one of the last chapter! Grim must save Mandy from The Darkness by morning, or else she'll die!

Warning - a lot of blood in this chapter. Ah, hell. No one reads this story anymore anyways.

Boogeyman was leaning against the wall of his tiny, dank cell, crossing his coffee-and-wine dehydrated arms over his chest. Even though he was to be executed by breaking wheel at dawn, he was as smug and satisfied with himself as he always was. Tampering with a little girl's mind was better than… oh, he wouldn't admit what it was better than.

Boogey looked at the shackle that bound his ankle to the wall. He was so used to chains they were merely a fashion accessory for him – to wear as he saw fit. He remembered giving staff at the Freaky Fred Memorial Institute for the Criminally Insane a lot of grief finding out how he got out of their pathetic restraints. He sat down, grabbed the cuff and chafed his longest fingernail against the wall until it resembled a bobby pin. Only one thing left…

"Thank you, mister," he said wryly as he elegantly grabbed the key chain from the pool of the prison guard's blood. He looked down, not a shred of remorse on his ugly mug. "Why the long face? You cost me a nail."

Boogeyman chuckled, low and ominously. "Break a leg…" The keys tinkled.

The sun was setting and colored the clear sky purple, pink and orange. Some stars were sparkling far in the distance. Mandy looked out the windows of her castle and leaned her head against the stone edging in despair at the sound of her people screaming. The sight of the burning houses made her sick with fury. Normally they would end today's work and sit down to eat. Mandy toyed with her rosary for a moment, but it did not comfort her as much without the Book of Hours suspended from her belt. It was being restored by the Secret Snake Club who, aside from being social peons, also great illuminators.

The feeling of encroaching doom laid heavily on everybody in the castle, including the servants as they dressed Mandy in battle attire; a purple dress with plates of metal sown into the corset. In half an hour she was to stand at the balcony and speak to her army to calm them down. She sat by the table by the fireplace and picked through a light meal as she heard voices outside the chamber door. Her mind wandered off to the bargaining with Mindy.

The Three Judges kept calm as Mindy stepped down on the carpet and stained it with hippocras. Mandy however, indulged in a smirk. "I can't believe you would actually hired Boogeyman and Ghastly to aid you in your ridiculous scheme. They will both betray you. Ghastly would gladly sell her grandmother down the river if she believed it would help her creativity. And Boogeyman – now he's a real fine match. He ends up killing the women around him and you're different to him, just a plaything, and a pastime at best."

Mandy frowned even deeper "But the real difference between you twerps and me is that you will lose. And when you lose I shall bind you to the rack myself with the greatest of pleasure."

Grim, seated in the background, was flabbergasted. Mandy had banned the rack as well as all torture instruments a long time ago. He went from flabbergasted to suspicious.

"Careful now," Mindy said and twirled lock of her red hair. "Your people, that is, those few who survive the night, will benefit from my plans."

"You will not lay hands on my people!" Mandy pointed at her, shaking with fury. "Guards, arrest her!"

Mindy just glanced scornfully at the guards' spears. "Come dawn, Your Majesty, you will be dead. Overthrown and forgotten!"

She cackled like a demented school girl. Mandy felt strangely powerless, yet kept her veneer at the normal diamond brand. Mindy had yet to learn how death was only the beginning, and that this was true for all warfare. All battles start with death, and ended in victory, at least for one party. This was one party where Mindy would not be on the list.

Mrs. Doolin's hair was a mess. She had heard the bad news on her way in from the wrestling academy to make sure her youngest students were safely escorted to a hideout. Grim attended classes there in his youth.

"Grim, there's been a mass escape from the prison. All the most dangerous criminals, including Boogeyman, have fled suicide watch."

Grim was aghast. He had built that block himself. "How? How could this happen? They were guarded, weren't they?"

He looked at Mandy's door and took a very deep breath. "This is getting dangerous. I fear that she's on to us. It's in her eyes."

"Unless you say something, she won't find out. Don't lose faith, Grim! That's how you failed wrestling. But now we need to take care of here and now. Remember… until dawn."

"Until dawn." Grim repeated. Then he shook off his dark thoughts, if only for a minute. "You're right. Um, you need to gather the children in and near the castle and take them to the shelter…" And then he remembered the new horror Mandy was storing in the basement. "The shelter at the east end. The basement is the first place Mindy's goons will look for them. Boogey knows where it is. And also bring Penny; she's in a weak condition. Make sure she's comfortable, and put Billy in charge."

"Is that a good idea?" Mrs. Doolin hesitated.

"He may be a cretin, but he won't let us down now."

Once again Grim looked at Mandy's door. "Only one thing left to do."

The royal army was flocked around the moat of Dimhald Castle, and it was a spectacular sight. The soldiers were all armed to the teeth, in armor and carrying banners with Mandy's monogram. General Irwin rode in on an obese old horse to the front line awaiting the Queen's orders. Already there was corporal Spider Queen and Major Nergal. It was so tragic how Officer Pud'n was absent.

The door to the balcony opened and Grim stepped out first, followed by Mandy, in her long purple war gown. Her visage was like stone.

"Loyal subjects," her charismatic but cold voice put all chattering to death immediately. "I am a leader of few words and many actions. But tonight, as I usher you into war, I know I am pushing your faith and loyalty to me to the limit. But remember – I stand at the front line. No one can harm you without taking me down first!"

The crowd cheered, and the hundreds of torches were lifted as in a toast of fire.

Mandy leaned over the balustrade, and the silver scythe sparkled in the luster of the torches.

"This war…" her words faltered in the freezing night, "Came over us so unexpectedly. Our strength is that we can beat any diseases, famine and war, no matter _how_ unforeseen. By this time tomorrow, the guilty will be chased back to the shadows!"

Irwin looked up at his Queen. If he was still alive tomorrow he would pop the question again.

"We fight till dawn!" Mandy lifted her club and sickle to the sky, and the army cheered on even louder. The ringing of bells and beating of drums were caught by the deep catacombs below the castle, and the echo thundered inside, outside and around Dimhald.

Mandy searched through her wide cotton belt for the key to the potion room as she stepped back in from the cold. Grim followed behind her.

"A very interesting speech, Mandy," he said, with a noticeable coolness to his otherwise serious tone.

She did not notice it. "Thank you. I will be ready in a few minutes."

Grim positioned himself in front of the exit to her boudoir. His long flowing black garments waved menacingly. "For what reason? Your horse is waiting outside the west end."

His eyes narrowed. Mandy's eyes narrowed as well, and her behavior reminded him of a defiant child being accused of stealing.

"I suppose this is what you're after." He said bitterly and pulled the vial of The Darkness out from his sleeve.

Mandy took a deep breath and leapt onto him, snarling. But Grim had been anticipating a move like this. He grabbed her by the wrists as she hissed like an insane bobcat. "Give it to me!"

"No, Mandy," he said. "I am sorry. But I can't let you into fight this battle."

He dragged her into the boudoir, dropped her onto the floor and slammed the double doors safely shut.

Mandy was immediately up, kicking and shouldering the door. "Grim! Let me out of here! Let me out of here! That's an order!" She pounded the woodwork.

Grim looked down on the bottle of pure evil, and took a moment to listen to the diabolic rage in Mandy's ear-piercing screams.

Till dawn.


	10. Queen of the People part 2

Last chapter. Grim and Boogey has a disturbing clash, Mindy takes over the castle, and the city is completely eradicated. Warning: Four nasty deaths, the F-word and blood coming up.

* * *

The night was freezing. Was Irwin's mind playing a trick on him, or was it even colder now than an hour ago? Winter Gates was, as the name implies, always cold and there was always snow on the ground. The moon was covered with the only cloud on the sky, as if the moon goddess herself had fancied a coat for protection against the harsh elements.

This was not a normal battle. Instead of meeting the enemy at one of the battlefields, the whole city was the battlefield. Nergal had sent his minions, the 'nerglings' as spies, and Nergal himself, in despair over his missing son, had covered the theatre in black, wormy tentacles. One of the little nerglings flew over them and dropped a piece of paper onto Irwin's helmet.

"OK, gang," Irwin said despondently to a small party of officers and soldiers. "Team Beta has surveyed the north side of town, and reported over 300 civilians dead, yo."

Eris, stunningly dressed in gilded armor, responded to his inarticulate line by whacking him in the head. Chaos ruled the city tonight; a chaos brought on by man and without divine involvement, so Eris' attempts to harness the annihilation had been fruitless. "If we're done with the tomfoolery, I'd like to move on."

"Yeah!" Corporal Velma retorted. "We'll freeze to death if we don't move soon." She shuddered and wrapped herself tightly into her gossamer, yet durable spider silk cape.

"I'm sorry, yo," Irwin started, "But we have to wait in the watchtower until Mandy gives new orders…"

An eardrum-popping boom rang throughout the city, and an orb of eerie, white light emitted from the city square, denoting that the thousands of years old Scythe Lodge house was now absolutely destroyed. Irwin swallowed and tried his best not to cry. Where _was_ Mandy?

Grim was sitting on the floor, leaning against the double doors to Mandy's boudoir. He could feel the blows on his back as Mandy hurled objects on the other side of the door.

"Let me out of here! Grim!"

Grim sighed exasperatedly. "Doctor says you must stay in bed, Mandy. You are ill and need your rest."

"Oh, curse you!" She screamed and threw an extra large vase. It sounded like the priceless kind of vase as it shattered. Grim was more concerned about the crashing, whooping and hollering coming from the upstairs dining hall, the library and sitting salon. He cursed the door to stay locked, even though he knew it was objectionable to leave a trapped person alone.

He walked; teeth clenched, towards the room emitting the most sound, the audience room, and stood in the magnificent arch that depicted the waltz of the Emperor and the Ragamuffin Girl. Mindy was sitting on Mandy's throne, in a pink cotehardie. She was nothing like the freckled, perky student she had been. She was now taking shape as an outwardly attractive lady, but lacked Mandy's strength and likeable refinement.

"On behalf of Her Majesty Mandy VI and the people of Winter Gates, I welcome you to Dimhald Castle." Grim said as if they had been ambassadors. Mindy set up a disgusted face at Grim's words.

"Duh! From now on this is the House of I.C.U.P, ugly," she said wryly. "Mandy's time is so up. And you're my servant now. My first commands as the new Queen is – Grim, get us drinks."

Grim kept up his appearance, although hatred was about to seep through his eye sockets. "Root beer, Your Majesty?"

"Nuh-uh, thinspiration. Root beer has an awful lot of carbs. Mineral water will do nice." She sneered and leant back. Grim thought about all the poisons that were stored not too far away from the winery as he backed out from the room.

* * *

Mandy was done breaking priceless artifacts and was now concentrating her energy around tearing sheets out of her bed.

"Frick!" She exclaimed as she got a rug burn from the mattress, and licked her wounds. She was breathing heavily, frightened by the sounding canons from below. Her hands trembled as they bound the sheets, blankets and curtains together, and fastened them to the bedpost.

Mandy drew the curtains aside and opened the window, and took two seconds to breathe in the fresh air. The cold was almost compact as it hit her face and décolletage, so she put on a robe before tossing the makeshift rope out.

Climbing down 90 yards* was more difficult than she thought at first, and she became very aware of the danger as the gravity made her pendulum against the stone wall of the tower. She squeezed the sheet between her thighs and kept lowering - but only ten yards above ground her fingers were so frozen she could not hold on and let go of her grip.

"Ouff!" Mandy landed on the soft, but freezing snow. The smell of gunpowder sharpened her senses and gave directions. North side of the castle.

"For the last time, Doolin, _where_ are the kids?" Sperg snarled at Mrs. Doolin, who had been badly beaten. Her nose was broken and bleeding, she was bruised and her dress torn. She just raised her eyebrow, although quivering, and scoffed. Lieutenant Creeper manhandled the refined old lady, and Sperg raised his hammy fist to hit her again. Ghastly stopped him.

"Don't bother! The toad won't talk and you know it. You know Mindy's law – either it obeys or it is eliminated."

Mrs. Doolin gasped and her eyes widened. Ghastly was ruthless. "Exterminate her!"

Sperg whipped Mrs. Doolin in the head with the shaft of a dagger, and she dropped lifeless over on the floor.

"What a complete and utter waste of time," Ghastly scoffed in frustration. "I'll look for the kids myself."

"I'll follow you." Creeper wiped off the blood of Mrs. Doolin from his shoes with the torn painting of Mandy's mother.

"No way. I'll go myself while you two keep searching these floors. They can't be that far away."

* * *

Grim had served the drinks, been made fun of, and now he returned to Mandy's penthouse to see how she was.

"Mandy? Are you sleeping?" He knocked. As there was no answer, he unlocked the door. The room was empty and the shutters were banging in the wind.

"Oh, damn it!" Grim tried to keep himself together, and hoped that even if Mrs. Doolin was gone, that Billy still kept the children safe. His plans were done for.

In the meantime, Boogeyman had returned to Mindy and as he was standing next to her, he could not help but look forward to the moment she was alone. She would never know what hit her. But while he waited, he might as well make a little chitchat.

"So, Your Majesty, I take it you're pleased with the décor of this house."

Mindy squirmed in the magnificent throne. "If I was a color blind bat, maybe. Everything s going out, and of course you will send for a furniture designer tomorrow."

Boogeyman was not rattled by Mindy's insolent tone. "Of course." He smiled politely. "_But I'll send for an undertaker afterwards."_

Mindy took a sip of her club soda. "You know, I don't think Ghastly should be down there alone. Both your schemes failed, although not miserably. You could earn my trust by joining her. _Now_."

Boogeyman tilted his head and his neck made a loud cracking. "At once, Your Majesty."

* * *

The basements of Dimhald Castle had been dungeons in older times; endlessly large where up to three hundred prisoners could be held, this was back when men ruled Winter Gates. In those days the king had over a hundred prison guards in employment at any given time, and required them to be skilled in the arts of torture and utilize them on the prisoners in shift 24 hours a day. The cellar rooms were built large and high under the ceilings. And so would the horrible screaming from the tormented inmates ascend from the caverns and entertain the king as he ate supper. Ghastly felt uncertain as she took a turn to the left.

It didn't look as if anyone had set foot in this part of the castle for decades. There was moss growing on the musty rock walls, cobwebs and dust covered most of the random items around her, and she passed a sign carried a message written in ancient Cyrillic. It read "Crypt".

Ghastly could hear voices in the distance, and she turned her head to an open door way down in the dark hall. She felt very uneasy as she closed in on the open room.

"Oh, my God, what is this place?" she sighed.

She stopped, her high-heeled foot placed in a floor puddle. Someone was staring her in the back of her head, and she saw this person in the water for a split second and she gasped. She was grabbed violently, tossed down on the floor and dragged off into the shadows. The sound of Ghastly's scream soared from the cellar walls and floor, all the way up to the throne room. Everybody seated there became instantly as silent as the grave.

"Where's Ghastly?" Mindy barked in horror.

Grim turned around, looking. "Where's Boogey?"

* * *

Mandy had curled up behind a street peddler's wagon, watching as one of Mindy's troops passed by in a hurry. The snow had begun to fall again, over the enemy foot prints, blood and ash that sullied the ground. But as beautiful as her ground was she had ventured into a dangerous place and couldn't linger. The next troop was not far away, she could hear voices.

Her dress was a bit longer than ordered, and the skirt trailed after her on the wet pavement as she ran, down the street, over an empty front yard. When she was as far away from the guard's lodges, she took a breath. She had to get to the potion room before Grim found out he had the fake Darkness vial.

As no one else was gutsy enough to step down in the basement, Grim had been ordered to find out what had happened to Major Doctor Ghastly. Tell the truth, Grim didn't feel any better either. He had not reaped Ghastly's soul, and that could mean one out of three things. She had either killed herself, or she had been stupid enough to venture into the crypts and gotten herself hurt. There were many decayed trapdoors where the bodies of dead servants and prisoners had been discarded long ago. He didn't want to think about the third option, even though it was the most probable one.

"_Help me_."

He jumped and backed against the wall as he heard the voice. It was a woman's voice in the distance, but not Ghastly's. He followed the sound.

"_Help me… somebody…" _

Grim's breath turned short. "Mandy?"

It _was_ Mandy's voice, and it sounded as if she was in great pain. Grim clenched his teeth; something felt awfully wrong. He passed the sign that read "Crypt". He had always hated this part of the castle.

"Where are you, Mandy?"

"_I'm down here. Help me… I've hurt myself in here_…"

Grim was cold sweating. There was drag marks of blood and grit on the floor leading to a door in the distance. This door was now closed, and he held his breath as he reached out his hand to open it, only to have it swung open almost right in the face.

He screamed. Boogeyman came out the door, trembling, terrified and with blood on his blue nightshirt and naked feet. He didn't appear to be injured in anyway, although shell-shocked and clenched the door frame with his hands as if he was about to faint.

"It was horrible," he gasped with eyes wide open. "All the blood…"

He staggered out of the doorframe. Grim's narrowed his eye sockets. "What did you _do_?"

"I don't know what happened! Mindy sent me after Ghastly, and…" Boogey's jaw dropped. "I _didn't _do it! I don't do stuff like this!"

That line was the straw that broke the candle's back. Grim grabbed Boogey by the elbows and held him up against the wall.

"You don't do stuff like that, huh? Didn't you kidnap Mandy four days ago and painted her mind black with those insane goddamn colors of yours?" he tossed Boogey violently further down the hall. A loud crack warned that Boogey's right femur broke.

Boogeyman made a loud moan of agony and drew his knees under his chin. He raised his hands as Grim grabbed him again. "It was an order, Grim," he groaned and pain made him grimace.

"As if you couldn't have come up with an idea like that on your own? All the women you've killed, all the little animals you mutilated, the children you damaged, and still knowing better than stealing a little girl. Rich," Grim said spitefully as he grasped Boogey' pointy ear and banged his face several times into a sewer pipe. Blood squirted over Grim's face.

"That was my gang years, Grim! Please don't kill me!" Boogey held out his hands to cushion the impact, only to have his wrists snapped. Grim was furious; the only thing important to him now was damaging Boogey as much as possible.

"I could have helped you out of that gang, you piece of sh…!"

"How?" Boogey coughed up blood and pieces of broken teeth. "You've always hated me!"

Grim lifted Boogey by the upper arms and his smile was evil and vengeful. "And so from the bottom of my heart. Happy New Year, princess!" He kissed Boogey maliciously and tossed him through an ancient and dusty glass door.

The door was smashed in a million pieces by Boogey's scrawny self. Grim's instinct was to enter and put an end to his enemy's life, but his gaze was drawn to the window. A red and orange ribbon rose over the horizon.

"Dawn," Grim whispered. "Oh, no."

Then he realized where he was. It was the Potion Room. "Oh, no!"

He stepped backwards. "Boogey?" he said gently. "Boogey, get up."

Boogeyman breathed; heavy, trembling breaths from pain and internal bleeding. "I can't. You broke my leg!"

True. A chunk of bone protruded out of Boogey's thigh.

They both turned silent as they saw what was hanging above Boogey. The Darkness had escaped its vial and was trailing across the ceiling and over to the end side of the room. Boogeyman managed to fight up into a standing position, keeping a close eye on the black slime it left on the walls..

The Darkness was not a shadow anymore. It was an immense blanket of compact blackness, shaped like a portal with nothing but an ice blue hole in the middle to contrast its deadly whirlpool.

"Get out of there!" Grim shouted. "Now!"

Boogey leapt over the threshold, only to be grabbed from behind by The Darkness' slimy vines and dragged through the air. He reached his arms out and flailed. "Grim! Grim!"

Grim stopped breathing as he saw Boogey sticking to The Darkness' middle like a fly caught on duct tape. Dark veils layered over him and he collapsed quickly, and was assimilated into it. When the black mass parted to exit the room, Grim saw Boogey's dead body, fused into the wall.

The sight of this made him feel sick and he backed slowly away from the Potion Room. He turned and ran over another door, that opened, and on the floor on the inside lay something, most likely a woman. It was hard to tell.

"Oh, Doctor Ghastly," Grim gasped. Then he turned to see what that awful draft was.

The Darkness folded like a flower at night before a booming pierced Grim's ears. It popped the ceiling like a giant column growing through the middle of the castle, crushing and destroying, reaching out its tendrils like dark branches on a pitch black tree.

It sucked in every living thing that got in its way. All souls in the castle were assimilated into it before it mushroomed out of the highest tower.

Grim fled up what was left of the stairs to escape. Maybe not all of Winter Gates would be ruined when the dawn took over. He exited through a first story window, and Mandy, who was trying to break in through another ten yards down, saw him.

"Grim! Help me!"

The Darkness grabbed both of them before Grim could blink, and now, the funnel-shaped cloud of black unfolded completely. Dimhald Castle, the guard's lodge, the mountains, the lake and all of Winter Gates disappeared into shadows.

Mandy rematerialized, floating inside the Darkness, along with all the others. But the others were sleeping. Billy, Boogey, Mindy and her gang, Mrs. Doolin and everybody else were scattered in nothingness, unconscious.

"You let us down, Mandy," a voice boomed through the void. It came from Grim, who was standing in the air, looking down on her.

"You let us die," Granny Grim showed up next to him, pale and spooky.

"Now we must kill you." Billy appeared and pointed his finger at her, menacingly.

Mandy's eyes reflected the scythe as Grim lifted it. Everybody floated upwards, as if in a tank full of water. "We believe you belong with us! We believe you belong!"

Grim joined in the chanting as the blade sank into Mandy's heart, and everything faded. Her thoughts, feelings and memories disappeared one by one into the darkest pit of all; death.


	11. Epilogue Crown You In Glory

An epilogue to the story. Just some notes: This chapter just sums up the real world and imagination for Mandy. By the way, both The Darkness and Boogey's death is a parody of most hilarious movie deaths ever. Totally deserved. Yeah, yeah. It gets sappy at the ending, heads up. But you guys are into that stuff, right?

* * *

The frozen sunlight snuck up the white comforter of the bed. Mandy's little hand had been resting lifelessly on the sheet, but today the sunlight finally succeeded in making it move weakly, after fruitless attempts every day for a very long time.

Mandy's eyes opened, very slowly. The light was so harsh it was difficult to see. Suddenly, she felt jerks in the side of the bed, and faint voices. Someone touched her. A bird was singing outside the window. She wanted to talk, but her throat was so sore. A man's voice interrupted the touching hand, deep, grave, yet comforting.

"Do not touch her. She is not ready yet. Do not touch her…"

* * *

The Darkness' arms of destruction were resting, never to be lifted again. The beautiful plains of Winter Gates lay open in daylight, and snow was again falling, although now not finding the usual charming thatch roofs and majestic stone walls to rest on. The city lay in smoking ruins, and the chasm where Underworld beings could come up and visit the world of the living without scrutiny was filled with debris, sealing it shut.

Mandy opened her eyes slowly and felt the cold nipping at her fingers. She rose from the ground, her face like stone, and looked around. She was all alone, everybody else were dead.

The snowfall was heavy enough to already cover the drawbridge with a foot of its white coat. The long train of Mandy's dress was soaked as she walked, and suddenly, a wind came toward her blowing with it pieces of papers. They were pages of the Book of Hours! She reached her hand to catch them, but the wind crassly turned and took them to the sky. Her attempt to grab the pages became a noble farewell.

She went down on the stairs down from the castle grounds to the city, and sat down on a bench. The wind made the skirt of her silky gown wave idly. Minutes, hours, days, maybe, passed, but she kept her eyes closed and mind empty. There was nothing, but she saw no need to mourn. She would follow soon enough.

Footsteps of a very graceful, yet severe person closed in on her from behind after a very long time. She knew who he was, but she did not look up.

"That took long."

Grim, immaculately dressed in his black attire, kept his gaze away and at something distant. "My duty, child. I had to escort many souls this morning."

"You reaped _my_ soul. But I'm not in the Underworld. Why?"

Grim, still with Boogeyman's blood spattered on his forehead and chest, was distant. He waited for her to talk again, hoping she would find the answer herself.

"It's where I should be, Grim. I can't fight anymore. It's over. Everybody's dead and it's my fault."

He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Is that what you want me to do, Mandy? Do you want me to take your soul to the Underworld? Have you judged by Nergal's ex wife? And afterwards row you over Styx and reunite you with everyone who died?"

"I want nothing else," she answered, after a long break.

They both watched the snowflakes falling carefree from the sky for a long while.

"I can do that, Mandy. But I won't be able to help you there. You are on your own in the Underworld. Maybe the overseers will cut you some slack because you were an important person, but…" he took a deep breath, "I can't guarantee it. You know that well, child."

He sat down next to her. "Not everything is lost." He opened his hand, and there was Mandy's silver scythe, chiming in the wind. She took it, looked down on it, and clenched it.

"Nothing is ever really lost." Mandy said, more to herself than Grim.

She closed her eyes, and then she rose from her seat. Grim, loyal and dignified as always, followed her as she strode over the empty, snow-covered plaza. She flailed out of her long morning robe and stood there, feeling the wind on her bare shoulders.

"We'll start over from here, then?" She asked him. He raised his scythe and banged its shaft into the ground. An earthquake shook the square and cracked the ground, reopening the gateway leaving Mandy on a small platform of rock. Hundreds and thousands of spirits of the Underworld floated up from the dark abyss, helped by a sea of green blaze. A column of burning lava raised Mandy's platform, and she held her arms up and hands out, parting it to see her great land from above. She was not ready to give up.

* * *

"No, Billy," Grim said, placing his hands on his sides. "I don't think anyone would like streamers made of dirty socks."

"Why not?" Billy said, insulted.

"I just know it. And last time you made one a poor guy crashed and the nurses kicked you out!"

Mandy was awake. She lay in her bed, dressed in a Johnny gown, and her hair flowed freely around her face, Her trademark headband rested on the head section. Her parents had placed it there so she could put it on the moment she woke up. Obviously Mandy had been gone for so long they had actually started to miss her. She was so perplexed nothing else made sense but to rest perfectly still, until her friends could stop fighting and look around.

"Hi," she said, baffled.

"Look, Grim! She's awake!" Billy leapt onto the bed and jumped.

"Hey, cut that out, you simpleton!" Grim pushed him down. "Welcome back, Mandy."

"Hi," Mandy repeated with a blank look on her face.

Grim sat down next her and turned on the TV, so Billy would not nag so much. "It's OK if you rest, child. You've been gone a long time, and you're still quite banged up from the accident."

"Accident?"

"Mandy, you were hit by a car on your way home from school. Basically every bone in your body was shattered…" Grim changed to a lighter view on the subject, as a shadow of fear darkened Mandy's face. "Don't worry; the doctors say you'll be perfectly fine after some rehabilitation and rest. And the douchebag who hit you and took off is in prison and owes you 4 million as well as the medical bills."

Mandy cleared her throat. "How long have I been here?"

Billy hung over the foot end of Mandy's bed. "You missed summer break, Mandy!"

Grim helped her close her fingers around a glass of water and drink it. "You've been gone for almost six months, Mandy. You've been vegetative and very near death."

"I was afraid my best friend had moved into her brain!" Billy interjected.

Mandy's hand shook as she put the glass of water back down on the bedside table, that was completely overflowing with cards, candy boxes and flowers, some of them from Billy and his parents, others from her own parents and Grim, but most from Irwin. They were ridiculously elaborate and probably made by hand.

"Tell me again what happened?" She said.

Grim sighed. "Well, you were going home from school as you were hit by a car. You were rushed to the hospital, where they said you had little to no chance of survival. After a month had passed they even talked about cutting life support. We went to three different judges to keep the doctors from doing that, but it didn't help. And I was in a world of hurt because I am the Grim Reaper! I take life, I don't give it _back, _consarnit. But your mom wouldn't stop nagging, so I took you to the Underworld Hospital. The head doctor tried everything, but you were as settled in your coma as an eggplant in its earth. I realized I was helpless, so I called everybody on my cell phone list, including those on yours."

He took a break as a nurse came in to give Mandy vitamins. The new head M.D was Norwegian and relied on old school remedies – such as giving cod liver oil to his underage patients. The liver oil tasted awful.

"Mandy, we can come back tomorrow if you wanna rest." Grim said. Truth was he was exhausted himself.

"No. Tell me the story first." she made an attempt to sit up on her elbows, but her arms were like tapioca. She sank back into the lovely, water-heated bed.

"OK. Everybody jumped into your mind to try to help you out. Mindy tried to tease you out. I tried to understand you and use Granny Grim's advice. She insisted we should leave your consciousness to heal on its own. Boogey tried to scare you out, and for some reason, your mind would not let your parents enter. We almost succeeded in luring you back, but then you caught pneumonia. Your mind dealt with that by placed us in roles as if in a role play and it became dangerous both for you and us. You were terminal and no longer able to separate between reality and fantasy. If your mind didn't recognize us as outside factors anymore it could have consumed us and kill us as well as you."

"_The Darkness."_ A word Mandy didn't know why just popped into her head. It didn't make sense. Grim had succeeded – every memory of disease and pain was gone.

"Yeah, it was killing us, alright. At the end it was like a bad 90's horror movie!" Billy exclaimed.

"M-hm," Grim nodded, frowning. "I saw a lot of things in your mind, including your awful taste in movies."

The little girl sighed, but was reminded of something. "Grim, am I… Am I still gonna die?"

"Nah. Once I separated your mind from your soul and body it was easier for Granny to fix them in turn, and everybody who participated in this had their memories cleaned. They don't remember anything. Boogey's been told he was in the same accident as you. Your hours are not yet over. In not too much time you'll be bossing us around again."

Even though he would never admit it in real life, he was actually very happy to have Mandy back. Not because he liked her or anything… Though…

"'When you were hit you also got terribly banged up." He handed her a picture that showed her as four months comatose with more scars than skin in her face. "But now look."

Billy held up a mirror and smiled from ear to ear. She was her normal self again. Granted a little pale and tired, but otherwise fine. She was so relieved.

"It's overwhelming, Grim. Th… Th… Thanks."

"You're welcome. Welcome back, Mandy."

* * *

Later that night all three were sleeping; Mandy in the bed, Billy curled up at her foot end and Grim in the armchair with a sheet for a blanket. Mandy's doctor said it was OK for one night as long as she promised not to pull out the cannula again. She chose to enjoy it, seeing that after the earlier evaluation it was decided she would have to stay at the hospital's rehab wing until Christmas.

She was dreaming. And this time there was no water or darkness trapping her.

Queen Mandy VI, the sovereign monarch of Winter Gates was dressed in a vision of Tyrian purple silk, ermine and enameled details. A robe of ermine and teardrop jewels flowed around her, gracefully and dignified. She also wore makeup for the first time in her life; discreet kohl and dark red lipstick. She had even powdered her face and shoulders with a little lead powder. Her hair was covered in a white veil to symbol her chastity.

Everybody stretched their necks to get a good look as she knelt before the Three Judges. They were all dressed in deep bottle green robes for the occasion, and their silver scythes glittered over embroidered Ouroboros crests. Scythe Lodge Hall decorated in all grandeur known to man, the best detail being everyone she held dear. Billy and all the other royal wards also wore ermine surcoats, and carried gold bells. Nergal Junior was there as well, to keep an ear on the musical arrangements.

Roy Spleen ascended down from the velvet-draped, three-step podium. Skarr followed right after, carrying the Imperial crown; a true classic masterpiece of white gold. The front of the crown depicted two fairies reaching for each other, in encrusted diamonds, pearls, peridotes and pink garnets. The sides were adorned with yellow lilies, heartsease and ume blossoms in a mosaique of gems. It was lifted so everybody could see, and Grim lay the blade of his scythe on her right shoulder before Spleen placed the crown on the young regent's head in awe.

"I crown Thee, Mandy, Empress of The Underworld, Winter Gates, and Crumcrust, with gold, silver and jewels. Bless you, and may the powers of the Universe crown Thee with everlasting glory. Purity and power."

"Purity and power," the Three Judges said in unison.

"Purity and power," everyone else said.

Mandy rose majestically and with her palms open, just like Mrs. Doolin had taught her. Grim removed the blade. Billy giggled, Fred Fredburger said "Yes!" and the applause of the people drowned in bells, flutes and drums.

Outside, the snow was always falling in the night, but actually looked whiter than ever. The people ofThe Underworld, Winter Gates and Crumcrust were there; absolutely everybody wanted to see Mandy as the Empress. After all, she had worked her fingers to the bone to rebuild their home. It was time for the most sought moment of the crowning ceremony; the Inauguration, when the Empress walked from the city and back to her castle.

Billy made the front line of the troop; Mandy came behind him escorted by the Three Judges, Mrs. Doolin, General Irwin and last Nergal and Granny Grim, who helped the elder judge to understand that the choiring little nuns on each sides were not after his ear horn. The children on Dimhald Castle were behind them, laughing and throwing pink confetti. When they reached the stairway to the gates the guards, their wives and children climbed up the wall and let white rose petals rain down on them.

The little nuns were crowding at the gates and in the courtyard of the restored Dimhald Castle. They rang their bells and choired lightheartedly, as they could not talk. They bowed for the Empress, and she felt more powerful than ever, in a good way.

The two little wards of the Judges opened the great ballroom of the castle, and as Mandy made her glorious entry, everyone inside bowed. The room was lit with a thousand candles and sparkling as if made of gold. There was a new portrait of Mandy's parents over the throne and dais, as well as a painting depicting Mandy confronting Mindy, Sperg and Boogey. Grim had painted it.

Later in the evening there was a party in the castle, and there were so many people it was hard to keep account. Mandy, and all of her close ones were sitting at the dining table under the stain glass panel, eating, and she was having a conversation with Grim. He was more than willing to upgrade from the rank of "Queen's Professor" to "Warden of the Empress"; "Man-in-waiting". Of course, this required him to forfeit any plans of ever getting married or having children of his own. And at that cue, Irwin cleared his throat and rose from his seat. He was a little shaky, and everyone knew where this was going.

"Ahem, Mandy…"

He hummed again. "I would like to ehh, comfort you after this troubled time. I would be honored if I… ehh… could have your hand in matrimony."

Grim had to clench his jaws tight not to burst out in laughter. Spleen was clutching his knee. Billy had forfeited every attempt at repressing and laughed like a donkey while rolling around on the table. Mandy was in shock, as if he had requested something very improper.

"The answer is the same, Irwin. No!"

"But I…"

"No, Irwin. And that's all there is to it."

Irwin grabbed his heart and fainted, right into his hors d'ouvres.

As the rest of the party returned to their talking and eating, Mandy left the table and walked outside on the balcony. There it was. Peace, harmony and control, restored in her empire. She felt free for the first time in many, many years, free enough to live again. After all, everything was in order.

Only one door remained locked and forgotten in Dimhald Castle. But why bother with looking back when the future was now? Mandy looked at the sky and all the stars, and even though she was not smiling, she rested her frown for a moment.

Heaven could wait.


End file.
